I had to do it, y’all. I had to walk away from the drama.
Who else has spent an entire Sunday thinking about how the next day was Monday? You too? Even though there is no point in complaining about how quickly the weekend goes by, we always seem to do it.
“How was your weekend, Nothando?” a nurse would ask at work.
“Oh, you know, short,” I’d say.
That was my response every single Monday until I realized how unproductive it was. And so recently, I’ve decided that I am no longer here for Sunday night blues or Monday morning complaints. I’m keeping it a whole 100 and starting my weeks off on a positive note.
So, to that end, I’ve created the perfect Monday morning routine that makes me excited to start the week!
Sound too good to be true? Let me know what you think after this post.
Your luxurious Monday morning starts with a plan
Okay so, caveat, you have to have done a weekly reset for this relaxing Monday morning thing to work.
This luxurious, slow-paced routine will only be possible if you’re entering your week with a plan (Read: The #1 Secret to Using Your Weekly Planner). If you’ve already done the hard work of getting ready for the week, then there’s no panic on Monday morning.
And if you remember the 3 steps to our simple morning routine (Read: How to Create a Simple Morning Routine), then this will look familiar. It’s essentially the same 3 steps but in reverse… and with a lot more time for the fun stuff.
Step 1: emotional/spiritual self-care
This is why your Monday mornings are going to be your new favourite. Unlike the other days of the week when I get up and immediately eat and shower, on Mondays, I take it slow.
I wake up, make some tea and then get right back into bed with whatever book I’m reading. I give myself a full half-hour to just laze around, sip my tea, and read.
This has nothing to do with real life. If I’m reading fiction or even if I’m reading a great non-fiction book, I am not stressing about getting on the subway or meeting Pam after work. I’m in my PJs, relaxed, refreshed and calm.
These first few minutes are crucial because they also allow me to start the week off calmly. We all know that we have little control over what goes on around us once we’re out the door. However, we do get to control how we start off.
If you wake up frantic and panicked, then the rest of your Monday probably isn’t going to be the best. If you wake up feeling exhausted because your weekend wasn’t restful, then you’re probably going to start your week with that same tired vibe.
So give yourself a few minutes to just relax and catch up on something that you don’t always get to spend time on once the week gets going. I mean, how often do you get to just laze around? Instead of hitting snooze, why not actually wake up, but spend a few extra minutes being slow, warm and cozy?
You could:
- Do a gentle workout
- Spend time doodling
- Listen to music, or even
- Make a special warm beverage
The other thing that’s helpful about this first step is that it encourages me to get up on time. I know that this special time is finite (about half an hour) and so if I don’t get up on time, I’m cutting into it.
That means that if I chose to sleep in, it’s fine, I’m just missing out on my reading time. So, if you need help being consistent with wake-up times, you can think of it that way.
Step 2: personal self-care
This part’s short and sweet, and that’s thanks to you. In step 2, I want you to go back and look and what you’ve scheduled for today. Again, if you’ve done your weekly planner checklist, then you’ve already identified your most important tasks and the pockets of time in which you’ll do them.
For me, this looks like taking a quick look at my Google calendar, reminding myself of what needs to be done, and then moving on.
In this part of my Monday morning, I’m reminding myself of my personal goals and looking at the week as an opportunity to work towards them.
I also take a quick look at my email, but I’m very careful about this. I’m only looking to see if anything in my schedule has changed. I am not responding to emails or putting anyone else’s requests on my list of things to do just yet.
If you’ve lived through a Canadian winter, then you probably get the complete and utter joy that comes with finding out that it’s a snow day. Essentially, when the weather’s really bad, some schools and workplaces will close down for the day so that people don’t have to trek through the snow.
Now, some places are really hardcore about this and almost never call a snow day, but it’s worth checking your email just to be absolutely certain that you have to get changed and leave home.
And this brings us to step 3: physical self-care
Now and only now do I take a shower and get ready for work. I’m not even thinking about it until I’ve had my relaxing book time and reviewed my goals for the week. If I’ve done things right, after I have my breakfast, I still have a bit of time to get put together.
Now, I have to tell you the story about when my mom was 100% right. Please note that there are hundreds of these stories about when my mom was right, but this one is particularly interesting because it was on a Monday morning.
The weekend before, we’d gone shopping for some “more presentable” work clothes. This came from her kindly suggesting that I replace some items in my wardrobe, including my “subway shoes,” which – for the record – are perfectly comfortable black flats with comfy insole padding.
Picking an outfit the night before is really hit or miss for me, but if it’s going to happen, it’s most likely because it’s Sunday night and I’m really trying to get it together that week. So, on this particular week, I had a new outfit and enough time on Monday morning to look good. I even put on a red lipstick, which says a lot.
That day, when I showed up at work, everyone wanted to know what was going on. In fact, my favourite housecleaning staff told me I looked so much younger. My preceptor asked if I had an interview later that day. I told him no, I had a mom and a relaxing Monday morning routine.
No, I didn’t really, but I did wonder why everyone was so shocked that I looked decent.
In any event, after you’ve done something really relaxing and looked over your goals, you can get ready.
But try to take some of the calm and ambition that you’ve fostered with you into the rest of your day. Because the way you start on Monday will make all the difference, not only today, but also into the rest of your week.
Okay so are you feeling skeptical?
Listen, one thing I know about you is that you’re multi-passionate and you’re ambitious. If you’ve read through this post and thought, “that is entirely too much,” or “who has time for all that?” I want to challenge you by saying it’s just three steps.
And I’m going to take it one step further and ask, do you think it’s too much or do you think it’s too much for you? Like, “that’s nice Nothando, you do that, I ain’t got time.”
If you’re wondering whether or not you should spend half an hour just chillin’ on a Monday morning, or if you’re thinking you can’t possibly make time to just take it easy, why is that?
For a lot of us, it’s more natural to get up and go, and we actually start to feel guilty the moment we slow down and “indulge” in our self-care.
If that’s you, please give yourself some slack. You don’t have to feel guilty about making time for yourself, and there is nothing wrong with giving yourself a little TLC. In fact, it’s often just the thing you need to continue to be productive throughout your week. You really can’t maintain your productivity without maintaining your self-care.
***
Ugh, don’t you wish it were Monday morning? I mean, this routine is just so good.
Now, I actually look forward to Mondays because I know they are some of the most relaxing and intentional mornings I have. And I don’t feel bad about it.
Obviously, this doesn’t happen every week. There are Mondays when I’m worried about everything including how to spell Monday, but what I hope you took away from this post is that you are in control of how your week starts.
For instance, if you’re constantly dreading your Monday mornings, then there’s room for you to improve on how you’re prepping for work. Or, on the other hand, maybe there’s room to redesign what “work” looks like for you.
Most importantly, we’ve got to take ownership of what we’re doing and recognize that a lot of our performance is shaped by how we approach things. You can look at Monday mornings as a drag, or you can think of them as an opportunity to make progress towards the things that matter to you.
Summary
So, here’s a recap of how I design my Monday mornings:
- Step 1: Spiritual/emotional self-care – usually reading a really good book with a cup of tea
- Step 2: Personal self-care – reviewing my plan for the week
- Step 3: Physical self-care – that’s when I actually get ready for the day
I hope you can take something from this an adapt it to help shape your Monday mornings in a positive light.
And don’t forget that the key to making this possible is that you’ve made a plan for your week ahead of time. I’ve got a free weekly planner checklist to help you with this.
It’s a fillable workbook to make sure you’ve got everything tee’d up and ready to go come Monday morning – because there’s nothing worse than starting the week off feeling frazzled. You can do everything you’re passionate about… if you make the time!
